Author
Topic: peels (Read 8435 times)

JAC

New here but love it. I'm having a problem with the dough sticking to my peel (steel) when trying to slide it on to the stone. It's a Neapolitan style dough so it's a little sticky. I've floured it and that helped a little but...Prefer not to use cornmeal since that would ruin the texture of the soft crust.Any helpful techniques/tips out there?

the only thing, the bottom of my oven is really dirty now, - that corn meal gets onto the oven bottom and just burns and burns until it's black, then sits there until you clean it out. That's the only down fall.

( I only have a 14" round pizza stone, so a lot of the cornmeal falls to the bottom when I'm putting the pizza in and taking it out.

Oh well, that's life I guess.

Mark

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Pizzamaker, Rib Smoker, HomeBrewer, there's not enough time for a real job.

JAC

Thanks to all for the tips, keep 'em coming. I'll give them a try and pass along results.

Does anyone know what the poster "Giallo" is up to? I saw posts a few months back under a Neapolitan dough subject but none very recently. The web page mentioned still does not seem to be up and running. Thought it could be of some help in handling this type of dough.

Hello,I'm still here. I've been extremely busy working on the Pizza Secrets web site. It is set to be activated on November 11th. Here is the link to the site in progress. http://www.pizzasecrets.com/index.shtmlThanks Joe (Giallo) MorenoDalla Cucina Manna

When I use my stone, I like to use semolina flour on the wooden peel. I put a generous amount on it. When you put your pizza on the peel, put it as far forward as you can. Give it a few shakes to test it. It takes practice to get it to slide off just right. You will have to sweep out your oven frequently to remove the burnt semolina flour. After a dozen pizzas or so you'll be a master pizzaiolo! Just keep making pizzas.Joe

Most people make the mistake of giving the peel one large yank to get the pizza off and into the oven, sort of like the old "pull the tablecloth off the table without knocking the dinnerware off" trick!

I tried that technique when I first started out... and 50% of the time I'd end up with a huge mess in the oven. Either the dough wouldn't come off cleanly or the toppings would slide off!

Then I started "pre-yanking" the peel (for lack of a better word). After you've built your pizza on the peel, hold the peel horizontally and quickly move it front to back several times. This loosens up the dough and you should see the pizza start to slide around on the peel. Once loose, immediately put the peel to the rear of the oven and give several quick yanks on the peel to get the pie off... it should slide off very easily.

Been using this technique for the last several years and have never had a problem.

Most people make the mistake of giving the peel one large yank to get the pizza off and into the oven, sort of like the old "pull the tablecloth off the table without knocking the dinnerware off" trick!

I tried that technique when I first started out... and 50% of the time I'd end up with a huge mess in the oven. Either the dough wouldn't come off cleanly or the toppings would slide off!

Then I started "pre-yanking" the peel (for lack of a better word). After you've built your pizza on the peel, hold the peel horizontally and quickly move it front to back several times. This loosens up the dough and you should see the pizza start to slide around on the peel. Once loose, immediately put the peel to the rear of the oven and give several quick yanks on the peel to get the pie off... it should slide off very easily.

Been using this technique for the last several years and have never had a problem.

A veteran pizzaman once showed me his "trick" of getting the pizza off the peel cleanly. When no one is looking, he'd pick up a small part of the edge and blow some air between the dough and the peel. You can see the whole pizza lift up and do a sort of "wave". Sure enough, it helped get that pizza off the peel much faster and easier!

. . . as far as the "pulling the tablecloth off the table" trick of placing the pizza in the oven, well, you really have to practice it a lot to get it right.

My brother who worked at a pizza parlor in New york was shown that trick as well. I've also tried blowing air under the pizza to get it off the peel and it really does work. The pizza floats off the peel,but you have to keep it moving so the pizza doesn't stick again.

Then I started "pre-yanking" the peel (for lack of a better word). After you've built your pizza on the peel, hold the peel horizontally and quickly move it front to back several times. This loosens up the dough and you should see the pizza start to slide around on the peel. Once loose, immediately put the peel to the rear of the oven and give several quick yanks on the peel to get the pie off... it should slide off very easily.

Been using this technique for the last several years and have never had a problem.

My only trouble with "pre-yanking" (which I used to do all the time before the pizza screen came along) is that the pizza tends to become smaller during all that movement.

Like I said, the pre-yanking would make it smaller right on the peel before I would even take it up to the oven.

Once you blow on the pizza, it's like an avalanche - it's going to come down fast, so you have to keep moving to keep the nice, circular shape you're looking for. I usually position the peel in an angle after blowing so I can lay the pizza down on the brick.

1. Make sure the peel is well-floured (I tried cornmeal for a while but got tired of the mess).

2. Sometimes, if I feel like the dough might be particularly sticky, I go around the edges and lift the dough off the peel at each point, just to make sure it's separated from the peel.

2. Put the peel all the way into the oven, just short of the far edge of the pizza stone, and at a very slight angle. Then do a series of quick SMALL "push and pull" jerks on the peel, just to gauge how quickly the dough will move off the peel. It's important not to *pull* the peel--PUSH and pull. Ideally, on each push, the peel should stop right at the far edge of the stone. If the dough is too sticky to move at all, you need to re-start, remove the peel, and put more flour under the dough.

3. If you do your small peel pushes right, the far edge of the pizza will just begin to slide off the peel, directly onto the far part of the stone. Once that's done (and by now, the pizza should move rather easily on your peel), use one big pull to get the rest of the pizza off the peel.

I maybe able to offer some help here that will pay dividends in the flavor department as well. The key to this is having very wet dough before shaping. In my procedure, I shaped the dough into the tight ball on a floured surface before storing it in the cooler. The next day 2 hours before pizza time I remove the dough then divide it in half but this time instead of a floured surface I use a water wet surface with wet hands to reform the dough into two balls. Two hours later, I heavily coat the surface and the dough ball with an equal mixture of flour, cornmeal and semolina. This makes the dough nonstick. The heavy coating of my mixture blends in with the dough for a wonderful flavor.Again, the key is to have wet dough to pick up the mixture.

First post and I am looking forward to learning more about making pizza at home.

Currently I am using Publix pizza dough, with a bottled pizza sauce.My favorite toppings currently are thinly sliced provolone, with procuitto(?)ham, with a few extra spur of the moment toppings, and a healthy drizzle of EV olive oil. I currently like my crust very thin.

I cook the pizza at 500F on a ceramic pizza stone in a lump charcoal ceramic cooker/oven. Check out the following websites to find some pictures of pizza cooked this way:www.biggreenegg.comwww.primogrill.com

The reason I posted here was because of the peel sliding issue.I am using the following innovative product with great success:www.superpeel.comCheck out the video, it really is as easy as it looks !

Trail master you are in the right place. You will find several recipes in the several pages of post under this heading. You may also want to get you a copy of Peter Rheinhart's American Pie. https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1580084222/?tag=pmak-20I never tried Publix pizza dough but I think you are in for a real treat.